african american

Mother (Nettie Hunt) and daughter (Nickie) sit on steps of the Supreme Court building on May 18, 1954, the day following the Court’s historic decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Nettie is holding a newspaper with the headline “High Court Bans Segregation in Public Schools.” — Credit: www.brownat50.org

A series of articles from the Newark Evening News in 1956 titled “The Negro in Essex.” The series of articles drew upon the results of a survey the paper conducted in an attempt to call attention to issues of discrimination, segregation, and inequality faced by Newark’s African American communities. — Credit: Newark Public Library

View of a storefront church in Newark. Countless storefront churches popped up in northern cities in the 20th century as African American populations left the South during the Great Migrations. — Credit: WPA Photographs, NJ State Archives

A view of the National Theatre on Belmont Avenue in Newark. The National Theatre was an important institution of leisure and entertainment for Newark’s Black communities. — Credit: WPA Photographs, NJ State Archives

A look inside a polling station at Newark’s Prince Charlton School in the early 1930s, as African Americans turned out to cast their votes. A new political awareness in Newark’s African American communities began to grow at the turn of the 20th Century, and the 1920s through 1940s saw the beginning of black political power on the local scene. — Credit: WPA Photographs, NJ State Archives

Poster to advertise a mass meeting for African American residents of Essex County on October 28, 1904 in Newark. A new political awareness in Newark’s African American communities began to grow at the turn of the 20th Century, and the 1920s through 1940s saw the beginning of black political power on the local scene. — Credit: New Jersey Historical Society

Photograph of William Maxwell, an influential political figure in Newark in the early 1900s. Maxwell was the first African American editor of the Newark Ledger and active in numerous political organizations in the city. — Credit: NJ Historical Society

A look inside an African American newspaper office in Newark in the early 1930s. The newspaper was most likely the New Jersey Herald News (later the Newark Herald News). — Credit: WPA Photographs, NJ State Archives

Poem written by William Maxwell, an influential political figure in Newark in the early 1900s. Maxwell was the first African American editor of the Newark Ledger and active in numerous political organizations in the city. — Credit: NJ Historical Society